L'Insolite Boat Cruises on the Seine

Are you turned off by tour groups? Skip the big-name
Paris sightseeing boats and cruise on L'Insolite, a boutique vessel for
independent travelers.

ABOVE: L'Insolite departs from the Seine
embankment next to the Pont Saint-Michel, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral. It
offered five cruises a day the last time we checked, except on Sundays and bank
holidays.

By Durant Imboden

Cruising on the Seine is
fun on any size boat, but the big Paris sightseeing-boat companies share a dirty
little secret: They cater heavily to tour groups, and their ships are often
packed with hundreds of tourists.

In contrast, L'Insolite--a boat that entered service in
2018--is both intimate in scale and free of tour-bus crowds. If you're an
independent visitor to Paris, it's the ideal vessel for your sightseeing cruise on
the Seine.

About L'Insolite:

The
Insolite was purpose-built as a
small boutique
sightseeing and event boat. (It's owned by
Bateaux de Paris, which also operates
two 19th Century-style paddlewheelers, Belle Vallée and Louisiana Belle, which
are used for wedding receptions, corporate parties, and other events.)

The boat
is basically an oval with open decks that are protected by an overhead canopy.
You can sit at either end or in chairs that are set up in the center area when
the vessel is used for cruising. The boat also has a bar, vending machines, and
toilets.

The roundtrip voyage starts at the Pont Saint-Michel, cruises
along the Right Bank to the Eiffel Tower, turns around, cruises along the Right
Bank to the Institut du Monde Arab (just east of the Île Saint-Louis), then
turns again and returns to the Pont Saint-Michel. Total cruise time is about 1
hour 15 minutes.

When we cruised on the Insolite in 2018, the boat also
offered a reduced one-way "hop off" fare to the Eiffel Tower twice a day (at 1
p.m. and 5 p.m.), with full-fare passengers staying on board for the return
cruise to Pont Saint-Michel.

How to buy tickets:

As you walk across the Pont Saint-Michel from the Île de la Cité to the Right Bank,
look for a temporary sign and an employee selling tickets at the top of the
stone stairs that lead down to the Seine embankment. (This will be on the left
side of the bridge as reach the Right Bank.)

If you see only the sign, look down
the stairs, and you should see an employee selling tickets at a podium next to
the moored boat.

Bateaux de Paris recommends that you be at the boat 15
minutes before departure. When we wrote this article in the spring of 2018, departure times were 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., and
9:15 p.m. The boat's season is spring through fall.

Fares are quite reasonable, with special rates for seniors and
children from 5 to 12 years old. Kids 4 and under travel free.

If you want a recorded
narration, you can pay a three-euro supplement for an audioguide in French,
English, German, Italian, or Spanish. (During our cruise, we skipped the
narration and just enjoyed the scenery along both banks of the Seine.)

More photos:

BELOW: The captain of L'Insolite
waits for passengers before departure. (The boat normally has a crew of two--the
captain and a sailor--with a third Bateaux de Paris employee on shore to sell
tickets.)

BELOW: Passengers board L'Insolite
at the bottom of a staircase that leads down from the Pont Saint-Michel.

BELOW: This fisheye image shows seating under
the Insolite's roof canopy. Passengers can move around or change seats
whenever they wish.

BELOW: For taking pictures,
the best seats are in the bow and stern.

BELOW: Side-facing seats also offer great
views. To see the shore up close, sit on the right (starboard) side. You'll have
views of the Right Bank from the Pont Saint-Michel to the Eiffel Tower, and of
the Left Bank after the boat turns around for the return journey. (If you'd
rather watch river traffic, sit on the left or port side.)

BELOW: The toilets on the Insolite are accessible, but you won't find
it easy to reach the boat in a wheelchair.

BELOW: L'Insolite passes under a
bridge toward the end of its 75-minute cruise on the Seine.

Bateaux de Paris Web site:

The company has a Web site at
www.bateauxdeparis.net, but it was
available only in French when we last checked, and no information was given for
sightseeing cruises. (There is, however, an
Insolite page with information about the boat itself, including a
downloadable deck plan.)

Note: Few
tourists have heard about L'Insolite, and the boat
hasn't had many passengers when we've seen it cruising. We hope the
Insolite will continue to cruise from the Pont Saint-Michel, and we
think you'll enjoy it if you want a pleasant, relaxed sightseeing experience
on the Seine.